Hyundai named Women’s World Car of the Year

The Hyundai Ioniq (pictured) has been named 2017 Women’s World Car of the Year.

The Ioniq is a five-door hatch manufactured and marketed by Hyundai in hybrid, plug-in hybrid and all-electric form – you could say Hyundai’s take on the Prius.

Due for release here late this year or early next year it emerged the clear “supreme” winner, ahead of runner up the Mazda CX-5.

For the purposes of judging all three models in the Ioniq range were considered and treated as one car for voting purposes.

The Ioniq also won the Green Car category.

The CEO of the Women’s World Car of the Year is Sandy Myhre of New Zealand.

“The car that wins the Supreme award has gone through a rigorous test by 25 judges from 20 different countries who are on the panel of Women’s World Car of the Year,” Myhre said.

“It’s a democratic process and cars that have won categories and the supreme winner really have to stand out.

“It must be mentioned that Mazda did very well to have three cars nominated, and score so highly, in all three categories.”

This year 420 cars were on the first nomination list, whittled down to the top 60.

Judges then vote on those cars by allocating points.

Voting is by secret ballot and audited by international accountancy company Grant Thornton from their Auckland (NZ) office.

Director, Paul Kane, said voting is not always predictable.

“This year, the Hyundai Ioniq was a standout. It’s always a tight competition but there were a couple of cars that were ahead of the others in their category, notably, the Ford Fiesta and the BMW 5 Series,” he said.

FAMILY CAR: Mazda CX5

This was an exceptionally close vote between the Mazda CX5 and the Hyundai i30. Right until the last votes were received the result could have gone either way. In fact, the Mazda CX-5 was nominated consistently in two categories – this Family Car category and the SUV/Crossover category.

BUDGET CAR:Ford Fiesta

This segment was very clear with the Ford Fiesta ahead of the Kia Rio by several points with the Citroen C3 coming in at third place.

GREEN CAR:Hyundai Ioniq – EV, Hybrid, PHEV

The Korean car was a clear winner ahead of the Toyota Prius Pug-in Hybrid. The Toyota Prius and the Kia Niro were almost equal until the last votes were in.

SUV/CROSSOVER:Peugeot 3008

The Peugeot 3008 convincingly won over the Mazda CX-5 which, in fact, did well to rate so highly in three categories. Third was the Volvo XC60.

LUXURY CAR:BMW 5 Series

No question here, the BMW 5 Series scored consistently highly and ahead of the Volvo S90 with the Mercedes-Benz E-Class in third place.

PERFORMANCE CAR:Honda Civic Type R

This segment was fairly closely-fought between the Honda and the Mazda MX5 RF which was runner-up. Third was the BMW M2 Coupe.

DREAM CAR:McLaren 720S

Judges are asked to nominate one car only for this award, their dream car, the one they’d like to own. For 2016 and 2017 McLaren was a clear winner over other contenders that included the likes of Aston Martin Rapide S, Aston Martin DB11, Maserati Levante, Ferrari Portofino and Ferrari GTC4 Russo.

HOLLY REICH DREAM CAR AWARD

This award is dedicated to the memory of Holly Reich, one of our judges from New York, who passed away in October 2016.

Scotland’s Maggie Barry, Motoring Editor for Media Scotland, and England’s Sue Baker, Vice President, UK Guild of Motoring Writers, presented two certificates to McLaren Cars in Woking, UK, on November 13 – one for the McLaren as the 2016 Dream Car Award and for the McLaren 720S winning this year’s award.

It’s the first time one car company has won back-to-back awards in this category or, indeed, any other category in the eight-year history of Women’s World Car of the Year.

PREVIOUS WINNERS

2016: Jaguar F-Pace

2015: Volvo XC90

2014: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

2013: Ford Fiesta Ecoboost

2012 Range Rover Evoque

2011: BMW 5 Series and Citroën DS3 (tie)

2010: Jaguar XF

JUDGES 2017

All 25 judges from 20 different countries are established motoring writers.

Women’s World Car of the Year is the only car awards in the world voted entirely by women.

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Chris Riley has been a journalist for almost 40 years. He has spent half of his career as a writer, editor and production editor in newspapers, the rest of the time driving and writing about cars both in print and online. His love affair with cars began as a teenager with the purchase of an old VW Beetle, followed by another Beetle and a string of other cars on which he has wasted too much time and money. A self-confessed geek, he’s not afraid to ask the hard questions - at the risk of sounding silly.